1. Thanksgivukkah Is the Overlapping of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving

Thanksgivukkah is a holiday name portmanteau neologism given to the convergence of the American holiday of Thanksgiving and the first day of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on Thursday, November 28, 2013. It is the result of a rare coincidence between the lunisolar Hebrew calendar (whose dates reflect both the moon phase and the time of the solar year, and which can have between 353 and 385 days per year) and the Gregorian calendar. Because the calendars are not calculated the same way, Hanukkah appears at a different time each year on the Gregorian calendar.

So, basically, it’s when Hanukkah and Thanksgiving occur on the same day.

3. Thanksgivukkah Has Caused Some Controversy

There has been some disagreement about the name: the Manischewitz company, the country’s top producer of kosher food, has spelled the dual-holiday with one fewer “k” towards the end, as “Thanksgivukah”;[12] and Israeli newspaper Haaretz posed the question: “Why ‘Thanksgivukkah’? Why not ‘Chanksgiving?'”. Haaretz points to a clip from The O.C., the source of the portmanteau “Chrismukkah”, as the basis of the “Thanksgivukkah” portmanteau.

4. This Occasion Will Not Occur for Another 75,000 Years

Thanksgivukkah is extremely rare as it only happens when the two holidays collide. In fact, because of the opposing calendars, Thanksgivukkah will not happen again for 75,000. Wired.com states:

This festive overlap is rarer than a planetary alignment, having occured just a couple times in history. And because of some strange calendar properties, this is basically the last Thanksgivukkah that will happen for more than 75,000 years. For humans, that’s an unfathomably long time.

5. A Creation Called the Menurkey Has Been Born

With the acknowledgement of Thanksgivukkah has come a new food item called “menurkey.” It’s basically a turkey with candles shoved in it to combine two holiday staples: the menorah from Hanukkah and the turkey from Thanksgiving.

Lauren Weigleis a senior contributor to Heavy specializing in celebrity and reality television. She has an extensive background in entertainment, fashion, PR, lifestyle and journalism. Follow her on Twitter @NYCPRTeam.November 28, 2013 6:40 pm